Actions from Mike the PoetMovable Type Pro 4.382013-01-28T01:00:00Zhttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=feed&_type=actions&username=mikesonksenPosted The Poetry Bomb: A Weapon of Mass Discussion to Artboundtag:www.kcet.org,2012:/arts/artbound//1834.554852013-01-28T09:00:00Z2013-01-31T01:11:14ZS.A. Griffin's got a bomb...but it's not filled with what you would expect. Take a tour with "The Poetry Bomb" as his 'disruption' bursts in Venice.Mike the Poethttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1834&id=6412
Between April-June of 2010, S.A. Griffin drove his 1995 Ford Econoline van 11,000 miles in five weeks, loaded with a repurposed bomb stuffed with over 1,000 poems, on a mission to teach us how to disagree. "War, the art, artifact and artifice of war were created to invent and enforce agreements," he says. "Hopefully by transforming this piece I have created something that will inspire disagreements. The democratic process depends upon disagreement in order to function. By definition all agreement can only happen as a result of disagreement. As a nation, as a people and as a government, if we do not learn to disagree immediately, we are lost."

He read almost nightly in different cities around the country, lifting off during National Poetry Month from Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice on his "Poetry Bomb Couch Surfing Across America Tour of Words." He got the idea to stuff a bomb shortly after 9/11. For years, he combed the Internet, surplus stores and junkyards looking for an old bomb that he could repurpose with poetry instead of gunpowder to promote dialogue. He never found one. About the time he gave up on the idea he tried one last late night search on Craigslist for "bomb." Four choices came up and he responded to the first. A man from Huntington Beach had an old bomb that he sold to Griffin for $100. He said that he wanted to meet the person who would want the old bomb, hoping that they would do something "artistic" with it. Little did he know, Griffin had some grand plans.

First, he had to clean it up and redecorate it -- transforming it into his vision. Griffin describes the process: "The Poetry Bomb is a 100-pound MK4 former Vietnam era (1970) U.S. military practice bomb bearing the bumps, scars and twisted fins as proof. The object is just over seven feet tall. Over the process of six months, the inert ordinance was opened up, gutted, reassembled. A 12-inch curved polyurethane window (was) installed, painted by One Day Auto Body, detailed like a chopped street rod by legendary Atwater-based artist Skratch and then filled with poetry from around the world." During the course of his five-week tour, he would bring "The Poetry Bomb" to each venue and read poems from inside of the bomb.

Holding over 1000 poems, the poets are from all walks of life. Famous and unknown, all religious backgrounds, they range in age from 3-93. "The Poetry Bomb" tour stretched 27 events over 35 days playing to coffeehouses, libraries, backyard barbecues, art galleries and street festivals. Locations like the Church of Beethoven in New Mexico received him warmly with pastries, coffee and a large crowd- ready to engage in dialogue and poetry. At the Chopin Theatre in Chicago the poets wrote a play around their idea of "The Poetry Bomb." Griffin was asked to pare down his regular 45-minute set to 10- minutes as a part of the whole; a chorus of several poet-performers each adding their voice to the play. For Griffin's part in this he performed Gregory Corso's poetic masterpiece, "Bomb." Everywhere he went people had their own idea about what "The Poetry Bomb" meant, or what it was.

The most common misconception is that it was meant to be a peace bomb. He felt that peace was only part of the story. "Peace is a narrow part of the whole, he says. "As a poetry bomb, all things become possible, poetry reflecting the whole range of experiences and ideas, not just one point of view." Ultimately he says that "The Poetry Bomb" is a "weapon of mass discussion."

"The Poetry Bomb's name is Elsie, so named after my own personal angel and savior, my paternal grandmother Elsie Emerson," he explains. "My Grandmother Elsie believed in me and inspired me to do something with my life besides make trouble. I wouldn't be here without her." Griffin's unifying intention with "The Poetry Bomb" stems from both honoring his grandmother's legacy as well as using poetry as a tool to promote deeper conversation during these chaotic times.

Griffin is further empowered in this because he knows a thing or two about personal struggles and fighting. "I come from a deeply dysfunctional lower class background textured by poverty, alcoholism, violence and abuse," he recalls. "I was a very difficult child, sent home regularly for fighting." Growing up in the San Francisco East Bay, he attended eight different grade schools living primarily in and around the Easter Hill projects of Richmond, where his father was from. He voluntarily entered the USAF soon after graduating from Castro Valley High School in the fall of 1972. After four years in the military, Griffin returned to the East Bay for two years of college on the G.I. Bill. He migrated from the infamous Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco to Los Angeles in September of 1978, armed with a scholarship to attend the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Workshop, just as the punk bomb was exploding across the country and the world. It's no hesitation to say poetry and the arts saved his life.

Griffin quickly fell in with L.A.'s emerging punk rock community of poets, musicians, filmmakers and painters. He became involved with several poetry reading series, small press zines and other avant-garde art performance scenes that flourished in the 1980s; like the Water Espresso Gallery in Hollywood and underground poetry zine "Shattersheet." Spearheading collectives like "The Lost Tribe" and "Carma Bums," Griffin has been shepherding poets and artists ever since. "The 80s were an electric, symbiotic period as all the arts bumped up against one another, performance and performance art happening everywhere it could land." His work and persona embodied a blend of The Beat Generation, punk rock and science fiction. Writer Wanda Coleman named him L.A.'s best performance poet for The LA Weekly in 1989.

Griffin's set with "The Poetry Bomb" is mostly poems by others, an engaging set of poems incorporating dead and living heroes and longtime poet friends. He explains, "Many of my friends are, and have been, some of my greatest teachers. People like Tony Scibella, The Carma Bums, Wanda Coleman, Laurel Ann Bogen, Harry Northup, and Ellyn Maybe." Celebrating the communion offered through poetry, Griffin energetically shares poem after poem working the crowd into a gentle frenzy. "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley, one of his favorite all time poems that he says turned his life around at 13 and set him on the path, was performed at every venue throughout the tour, "Henley's poem spoke directly to me, telling me that I could be whoever and whatever I wished to be, regardless of my circumstance." The last stanza punctuates the empowering poem:

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

Another poet he always read was his close friend, the late Scott Wannberg. Before he passed a few years ago, they had done hundreds of poetry events together over 25 years. Wannberg was known for kinetic verse that was only matched by his physical size. He was about 6'3" and weighed well over 300 pounds. "He really was the true genius of our crowd." Griffin shines when he reads one of Wannberg's poems or any of the others he pulls from inside the bomb. Another empowering poem that he would read at every event was "Como Tú (Like You)" by Salvadoran poet and journalist Roque Dalton which incorporates the famous line, "poetry, like bread, is for everyone," reflecting his love for the power of poetry, culminating in a language event that is multi-lingual like the world we live in.

In this era of gun control, school shootings, the fiscal cliff and an acrimonious congress, the timing couldn't be better for The Poetry Bomb. The symbol of a bomb packed with poetry is loaded in more ways than one. Griffin's been approached several times recently about more events. He's also been asked to tour internationally. He knows dialogue is more important now than ever before. He laments, "the idea of The Poetry Bomb is to promote civil discourse. Our country no longer knows how to disagree with each other. The point to the project and the object were one in the same- to inspire disagreements. For me, poetry is the best possible model for disagreement."

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Posted Gil Scott-Heron and Words from His Daughter Gia to Artboundtag:www.kcet.org,2011:/arts/artbound//1834.499872012-09-07T08:00:00Z2012-11-13T20:35:56ZPoet Gia Scott-Heron, daughter of the late Gil Scott-Heron, hailed by many as the Godfather of Rap, speaks about her father's work, their relationship and her own blossoming literary career. Mike the Poethttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1834&id=6412
Hailed by many as the Godfather of Rap, Gil Scott-Heron is one of the most influential poets and musicians of the last half century. Born in Chicago in 1949, his body of work includes 13 musical albums, five books (fiction and poetry) and thousands of live performances. His classic song-poems like "The Bottle," "Home is Where the Hatred Is," "Winter in America," and "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," remain relevant four decades after they appeared. He died unexpectedly in May 2011 after returning from a European tour. Gia Scott-Heron is his Los Angeles born daughter and a poet as well. A year after his death we spoke in depth about his work, their relationship and her own blossoming literary career.

"The Bottle"

Two recent projects released by Gil Scott-Heron set the stage for discussion. His autobiographical memoir "The Last Holiday" published by Grove Press in January 2012 and 2010's "I'm New Here," released a year before his death by XL Recordings, his first new record in 16 years. "I'm New Here," is darker than his earlier recorded work. The sonic landscape is more stark and minimal than the many records he made with long-time collaborator Brian Jackson. His cover of Robert Johnson's "Me & the Devil" is industrial blues.

Gil Scott-Heron never considered himself the Godfather of Rap. He knew he was part of a continuum of voices: Leroi Jones, The Last Poets, Watts Prophets, the Black Arts Movement, many others unnamed. He saw the Last Poets when he was a student at Lincoln University. He writes in his memoir about the Last Poets, "their things were a capella without music. I always had a band, so it was a different sort of thing. But we were trying to go in the same direction." Gil's versatile skills as writer, piano player, poet, singer, scholar culminated into great success by his mid-20s. He had his Masters Degree by age 24. He showed the Dean his two vinyl records and published book to get into the program at Johns Hopkins University, he recounts the story in his memoir.

The connection between his recordings and longer published memoir creates a conversation between texts that communicates messages on multiple levels. The powerful poem, "On Coming from a Broken Home" is a two part piece bookending the new album.

I want to make this a special tribute

To a family that contradicts the concepts,

Heard the rules but wouldn't accept,

And womenfolk raised me and I was full grown

Before I knew I came from a broken home.

The two part recording of the poem is masterfully executed. The poem pays honor to the women of his life and calls into question the idea of a "broken home." Celebrating his mother and grandmother he recalls their care for him and the feeling of love he grew up with,

I come from WHAT THEY CALLED A BROKEN HOME,

But if they ever really called at our house

They would have known how wrong they were.

We working on our lives

And our homes and dealing with what we had,

Not what we didn't have.

The poem deconstructs the "broken home" stereotype, "And too many homes have a missing woman or man without the feeling of missing love." In his new book, he elaborates in greater detail about all the love he received and the women who raised him. For Gia, the book shed light on a few things they never talked about. "I think the most valuable information he left in the book is the part where he talks about his Grandmother, my great-grandmother Lily," she says. "My Mom had told me when I was young that Daddy had found her dead one morning when he was only 12. So I kind of knew the story without all the details. It was a topic that I purposely and consciously chose not to broach with him. I didn't know how he'd react...I mean, what a painful memory, and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt my Dad. So, although I had many questions about her, as well as others on his side of the family (like his Dad), I didn't ask him about it...ever! Luckily I didn't have to a whole lot of time to beat myself up about the things I didn't ask him because he left many of the answers in his book."

Lynell George writes in the Los Angeles Times that The Last Holiday does not, "explain the "whys" of the latter years, but it is true to the man who shrugged off the limits of labels. Though, nearing the conclusion of the book, there are hints of darkness, his later interior struggle, he decided that this was the story he wanted to tell, one that is less official accounting than one long, open-hearted solo." Culminating with stories on Stevie, discussions of MLK and riffing on Ronald Reagan, the prose is engaging and will lead any true Scott-Heron fan back into his recorded catalog.

"'The Last Holiday' is as much about his life as it is about context," George writes, "the theater of late 20th century America -- from Jim Crow to the Reagan '80s and from Beale Street to 57th Street. The narrative is not, however, a rise-and-fall retelling of Scott-Heron's life and career. It doesn't connect all the dots. It moves off-the-beat, at its own speed. It lingers on certain life chapters he preferred to recall."

Instead he reflects on the late 1960s and explicates his early work with personal stories. His first famous poem, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," is relevant to this day loaded with metaphors and extra-textual references, political commentary as accurate as Howard Zinn with the humor of Richard Pryor or George Carlin.

The revolution will not go better with Coke.

The revolution will not fight germs that may

Cause bad breath.

The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

"The Revolution Will Not be Televised"

Around the same time Scott-Heron published his first book of poetry and recorded his first album both titled "Small Talk at 125th & Lenox," he was hard at work on a novel, "The Vulture." Set in New York City in 1969, it is well-constructed murder mystery. A work of inner city urban surrealism, the confusing plot matches Faulknerian levels in the complex web weaved. Utilizing techniques now common in film and postmodern fiction, the story is told from four different perspectives and chronology is scrambled.

In the preface he writes, "My biggest problem setting it up was how to show you the murder of John Lee without showing you the murderer. Hence, the autopsy report in the opening section." Within the different perspectives lies ample commentary on New York City, race relations and politics. The book is prefaced by his poem, "The Vulture."

Another song on "I'm New Here" titled "Your soul & mine" will be recognized by long-time fans as his poem "The Vulture;" the same poem that prefaces his 1970 novel "The Vulture" and appeared on his first album the same year. The difference in the two recordings of the poem marks an almost 40 year gap. The latest version on the new album sounds especially haunting because his age and life experience can be heard in his voice. Referencing Greek mythology to discuss the plight of Black America he says:

Charon brought his raft from the sea that sails on souls,

And saw the scavenger departing, taking warm hearts to the cold.

He knew the ghetto was the haven

for the meanest creature ever known.

Charon is the figure in Greek mythology that carries souls of the newly dead across the rivers that divide the world of the living from the dead. The tone pervades "I'm New Here." "New York is Killing Me," is another dark piece in line with this. The track "Running" is from his poem "The Oldest Reason in the World." Key lines include:

Because running will be the way your life and mine

Will be described:

As in the long run or

As in having given someone a run for his money or

As in running out of time

"Running"

Gia says, "he changed the title to "RUNNING" on his last album, but I recognized it as the same poem. I love how he exhausts all the references we use when talking about running. Like running for cover, and 'in the long run,' or giving someone a 'run for his money.' If there was one thing my Dad did well, it was to turn a word, or phrase on its head!"

Gia's mother Brenda Sykes is an actress known for films like Cleopatra Jones. Gil's childhood friend from New York City, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabber introduced the couple at the Roxy on Sunset. Gia was born in 1980, the same year Gil toured with Stevie Wonder in support of making Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a national holiday. Gil mentions spending time with the newborn Gia and her mother during the tour. He briefly mentions their 1987 divorce but keeps it all positive. What's more is that he even praises his mother in law, "of all the people I met in Southern California, my favorite was Mrs. Elvira Sykes, Brenda's mother. There was no complicated reason. She was simply one of the most sympathetic, pleasant and direct women I'd ever met." Much of Gia's childhood was spent with her grandmother Elvira Sykes in Baldwin Hills. They remain close today and Mrs. Sykes just celebrated her 90th birthday.

Another anecdote shared in the book is the time Gia saved her diabetic grandmother's life when she was 5. She was visiting New York to see her paternal grandmother. Gil writes, "As can happen with diabetics, grandma ran too hard one day, ran down, and then ran out. It was up to her granddaughter to run over to the phone, hit the 911 buttons, and tell the operator where to go. That was the part that most impressed me and everyone else upon hearing about the save Gia made, that a five-year old, just visiting New York, knew what street she was on (East 106th) and what apartment number they were in (19A). Not only did that take a good memory, it took a good set of nerves not to panic--- at five or 55. The incident proved how smart the daughter Brenda and I had produced was. She was intelligent, and turning out to be a nice person."

In songs like "Your Daddy Loves You," he repeats these sentiments. Gia remembers, "Being up on stage and singing back up for him on B-movie at age 12 (but just the chorus though...I didn't know the lyrics to the verses.)" "B-Movie" is Scott-Heron's 1981 poem about the presidential election of Ronald Reagan. He explains,"what has happened is that in the last 20 years America has changed from a producer to a consumer. And all consumers know that when the producer names the tune the consumer has got to dance. That's the way it is."

B-Movie's prophetic insight rings true now more than ever, "And when America found itself having a hard time facing the future they looked for one of their heroes, someone like John Wayne. But unfortunately John Wayne was no longer available so they settled for Ronald the Raygun. And it has turned into something that we can only look at like a "B" movie."

"B-Movie"

Gia keeps the political tradition alive with her recent piece, "The Mitts are Off." She tears into Mitt Romney with the same skill as her father in "B-Movie." For example,

You used to be a pro-choice Independent, until it no longer suited your purpose.

Now you're a pro-life Republican posing as a conservative!

Gia opened for her father when she was 20; he performed at her school Pitzer College in February 2000 for Black History month. I first met Gia Scott-Heron on a rainy LA winter night in 2002 at a reading held at the Brewery Art Complex in Lincoln Heights. Her poems and presence were humble and powerful. Like her father she writes fiction and poetry, sharing his enthusiasm for wordplay and social commentary. She's also been influenced by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Nikki Giovanni and Audre Lorde. "I also love other kinds of writers like J.K. Rowling for her imagination and the way she incorporated Greek mythology."

Her work has her father's swagger with her own sophisticated stamp on it. "Right now I am working on my second album," she says. "I've been working on it diligently for quite some time. It's called 'Different from the Majority' and it's what I'm seeking to prove via its creation." When she's not writing and recording, she co-hosts a weekly open mic venue called Natural High on Washington in Culver City and stays active performing in local schools and universities.

Gia recalls her last time seeing her father, "I remember opening for him again Nov. 2010, and sharing a hotel room with him for a weekend in Oakland, CA. The last time I would ever be with him physically! It's very bitter-sweet to think back on that weekend. We watched CNN together, and shared continental breakfasts together, and leftovers from Yoshi's (the leftovers tasted better than when it was originally served!) and we just spoke to each other like I imagine "normal" folks do."

In July 2012 she performed at the tribute concert "Peace Go With You, Gil," at the California Plaza Grand Performances in Downtown L.A. Gia joined a talented ensemble of musicians and singers including Brian Jackson, Gil's primary musical partner for many years. Gia performed on stage and can be seen here.

Gia live at Tribute concert

Her father's example and legacy pushes her forward and inspires her to keep the work going. These lines from her poem, "Daddy" capture her point of view...

But it's okay Daddy, once I get myself steady, I'll be ready.

Ready to show off like I'm an exhibit at the Getty!

Ready to be a chip off the ole' block with ev'ry mic that I rock!

My Pops was the legendary Gil Scott!

He said that "The Revolution will not be Televised".

He said that 'the revolution will be live!'

I'm livin' proof that he was right.

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Top Image: Gil Scott-Heron.

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Posted Beyond 'Whole Foods Parking Lot,' DJ Dave Makes Viral Video Gold to Artboundtag:www.kcet.org,2012:/arts/artbound//1834.464292012-05-31T08:00:00Z2012-06-07T18:37:51ZThe Berkeley-born David Wittman aka DJ Dave is a musical virtuoso skilled in composing, drumming, DJing, rhyming and producing. Following the success of the YouTube hit "Whole Foods Parking Lot," he's looking to expand his craft.Mike the Poethttp://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1834&id=6412
The Berkeley-born David Wittman aka DJ Dave is a musical virtuoso skilled in composing, drumming, DJing, rhyming and producing. The Hollywood Reporter and New York Times recently featured articles on his viral YouTube song/video "Whole Foods Parking Lot." You're probably one of the 4 million people (and counting) who have seen it or shared it online. Though he's been making music since grade school, he's been so busy producing for others that he never pursued his own solo projects. Over the last dozen years, he's composed songs for hundreds of commercials and several film scores working in a Westside Recording Studio. His old friends know he's like Pete Rock -- a well-respected producer that rhymes well when called upon -- but solo projects? They've never been his focus. He's won Cannes Lions for his scoring work and remixed "Whatever Lola Wants" for the Pepsi ad featuring David Beckham. But it took a volatile afternoon in the Whole Foods parking lot for him to write his own song."This Busters on his iPhone talking to his friends / Picking up some cayenne pepper for his master cleanse."

That's DJ Dave, doing what he does. The song is comprised of consecutive one-liners à la Richard Pryor or George Carlin. Dave wrote the lyrics, rapped it, produced it, recorded it and shared it with some cohorts. "I sent around the mp3 of 'Whole Foods' to friends and family, these guys responded. 'Let's shoot a video,'" he says. Those guys were George Woolley, Jake Pushinsky, and Pedram Torbati, all professional industry individuals, glad to work with Dave on something of their own rather than their typical paid industry work. They got together with Dave and made a plan. They formed Fog & Smog, a production company with that clever name because they are all from L.A. and the Bay.

He describes the day they began filming: "Peddy picked me up to go get a camera, and got us up on the roof at Tomas Burger for a wide shot. George helped block out locations and shoot it all. Jake did the editing and weighed in on creative production decisions. The next day, another homie Ben Malbrough rolled through, and then DJ Spider. My long time DJ/ composer, buddy and confidant Ben Kahle was the 'phone guy.' We all got together, and what came out of it was the video to 'Whole Foods Parking Lot.'" The video's success is because of their collective vision. All the pieces came together perfectly: the combination of filming on location, comical lyrics and slick musical production. The infectious chorus rides over a buoyant hip hop beat:

"It's getting REAL in the Whole Foods Parking Lot
You know the DEAL with the little shopping carts they got
Check out what I say, it happens every day
It's how we live on the west side of L.A ."

Released in late June 2011, "Whole Foods Parking Lot," now has 4 million views on YouTube. The video's success led Hyundai to book Fog & Smog for a spin-off commercial now airing nationally. Dave captured the zeitgeist of L.A.'s Westside consumer culture. Never claiming to be above it, he acknowledges his own place among it all. "Damn, I'm about to check out/ Pay my 80 bucks for 6 things and get the heck out."

Fog & Smog followed "Whole Foods Parking Lot" with "Yoga Girl." That video taps into the same spirit regarding Westside New Age culture that propelled "Whole Foods Parking Lot." Dave's rhymes are equally slapstick: "We could hit up Rawvolution or the Urth Café/Have a vegan cookie and talk about your day." Filmed on location in Santa Monica, there's another MC that joins him as well as several yoga girls responding to him sarcastically in rhyme. The video is now close to 900,000 views. There have been two other Fog & Smog videos after "Yoga Girl," "Berkeley Enough," and "Put Your Phone Down," both with several hundred thousand views.

Dave's musical roots date back to grade school in Berkeley. "I took some piano as a young kid," he says "maybe five or six years old, but it was at a music and arts camp in northern California called Cazadero (near Mendocino County) where things first really took hold. There were a number of drum sets around and getting on those drum kits just felt so damn exciting. It was like sneaking into the cockpit of a fighter jet."

Dave practiced through elementary school. "My parents made me practice on a little practice pad and take weekly lessons for a year before they'd get their 11 year-old his own drum-set. Also at that camp in the '80s, there was a kitchen worker, couldn't have been more than 15 [years old] named Dave Elliot. He had turntables and a mixer, and would DJ the 'camp dances.' Hip Hop was in this really exciting place where b-boy culture was surging through the west coast. Breaking, the music, and watching him scratch sold me. I was in. He later went on to be the DJ for Digital Underground. From then on, those were my two axes. Drums and DJing."

Dave's lyrical skills trace back to Berkeley. "There was this series of rap songs I did with my friend Gaby Alter back in our Jewish elementary school days, early 80's. Gaby wrote a Ronald Reagan rap too, which had undertones of nuclear holocaust fears. We would plug in a mic and put on 'Tour de France' by Kraftwerk, or 'Beat Box' by Art of Noise or 'Axel F' by Harold Faltemeyer, and rap over them, [then] record to cassette."

Dave attended Berkeley High where he played in the venerated jazz group led by Charles Hamilton. "Getting into the jazz group changed my life," he says. "Listening to recordings became instantly important, doing your research, learning as much as you could." He began collecting vinyl records and got obsessed with discovering who his favorite hip hop artists were sampling, especially old jazz. His love of A Tribe Called Quest led him to Grant Green and Roy Ayers. He began DJing house parties. "I think my first memories were how many times can I play 'Gangsta Gangsta' by N.W.A. before folks start saying it was too much?"

Dave reminisces about growing up in Berkeley in, well, "Berkeley Enough." Dave trades rhymes with Lae Charles -- a well-respected Berkeley MC that made his own response song/video to Dave's "Whole Foods Parking Lot." They corresponded and decided to make a song together. The crux of the song involves Lae questioning Dave's Berkeley credentials, "DJ Dave, you not Berkeley enough." Dave replies, "What you mean dude? I told before, you know I eat organic food."

Back and forth over a thumping beat trading bars and barbs in a variety of iconic Berkeley locales like Hotdog on a Stick, Telegraph Avenue, Dave's dad's porch, Berkeley high school and Oakland Airport. Dave declares he's Berkeley enough even though he's lived in LA for 20 years. "Yo man, my girl went to Berkeley High too man, come on dude." The trumpet player in the video is their mutual friend Stephen Bradley.

Dave arrived as a freshman at UCLA in the Fall of 1992, the same year I enrolled. When I met him, he was DJing house parties for the heads and DJing weddings, bar mitzvahs and quinceaneras in small apartments, Westside mansions, frat parties and underground warehouses. He also played drums for the UCLA Jazz band. Eventually we were roommates our fourth year and very active in a community of musicians, DJ's, dancers, poets and painters. Everybody got together over records.

Dave reflects: "That was such a great time in hip hop. I used to bring every single record I owned to every party. That was a serious endeavor, like moving an apartment! I've always loved playing the 12" of 'Oh My God' by Tribe. It's got this really hot (loud/solid) mix, and would cut in good, crunchy drums. Just popped. Such a great song, and that intro with Q-Tip saying, 'wh-pish, wh-pish, pish.' That was always fun at parties."

As a producer he's equally adept at creating hip hop, electronica, nu-jazz, downtempo, dub step, he's a studio wizard. Nonetheless he's also a natural performer. "You always take a chance when you play a note in public. DJing for a crowd, a party, or playing drums out somewhere, there's no substitute. It has to do a lot with community; that excitement and synergy."

The success of the videos, have led to Dave performing the songs live, including opening up for Bay Area icon Too Short and a pre-Oscar party. The Fog & Smog crew have been covered on KCRW, the Oakland Tribune, Mercury News and L.A. news segments. They have more song/videos in the works including one called "Mixologist," parodying the current craze of Westside high-end bars. Dave and Lae Charles have also made shirts that say "Berkeley Enough." The proceeds from the sales are being donated to their respective high school music programs. As Dave says in the song, "Now I'm Older:" "The first place may never be found, but I remember how we used to put it down."

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